George Lucas’s Star Wars has been one of the most popular productions ever made and has turned into a multi-billion dollar business. The epic space opera media franchise started with a 1977 film and soon after that, it became a pop-culture phenomenon all over the world.
The 9 movies of the “Skywalker Saga” have all been successful and they were all nominated to Academy Awards but the Prequel Trilogy’s three movies were a real hit between 1999 and 2005. They have been some of the most famous movies in the world in that time period.
In this article, we are discussing Star Wars and other popular movies around the late 90s and early 2000s, with Hungarian iGaming expert Peter Deli. Peter loves movies, in particular Star Wars, and you can find out more about his work here.
Star Wars Theme
Star Wars is not only popular in movies but also other media. There have been comic books, novels and even theme park attractions depicting the fictional universe of the movies. It is no surprise that the gaming industry also tried to monetize on the popularity of Star Wars and there have been numerous video games.
The world casino has also adapted the theme to their slot machine games.
You can play Star Wars slot games in certain land-based and online casinos. If you are looking for a new online casino, check out Wazamba, a website that accepts players from Hungary.
In 2020 it was estimated the total value of the Star Wars media franchise is $70 billion.
The Prequel Trilogy
Based on the success of the original trilogy between 1977 and 1983, Lucasfilms created the Prequel Trilogy that included:
- Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
- Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
- Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
The producer of the series was Rick McCallum and they were directed by George Lucas himself. The budget for each episode was around $15 million but the box office gross was over $1 billion for the first episode, followed by $650 million and $850 million for the second and third episodes. Each movie was clearly a financial success.
The Phantom Menace movie was the most successful film in 1999 and it stayed in the Top 10 movies until the 5th August (11 weeks in total), earning $431.1 million in the United States and Canada alone. Hungarians love Star Wars and the much-anticipated Phantom Menace was by far the most popular movie in 1999 in Hungary, bringing in $2.3 million in box office gross.
The movie broke many box office records and knocked The Mummy off the top spot. For the largest single-day gross it broke the previous record of The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
The Attack of the Clones stars big names like Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, Hayden Christensen, Ian McDiarmid and Samuel L. Jackson and it was praised for its visual effects, music and amazing action. The movie was a financial success but still, it was the first Star Wars movie to be outgrossed in the year of its release.
The Revenge of the Sith, the final episode was programmed to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and again broke several box office records. At the time it was the highest-grossing movie in the USA and the second highest-grossing worldwide. It was released in 115 countries and became the second most financially successful film in 2005 behind Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Other movie successes
1995 also saw the release of a film Casino. This drama and crime film takes place in Las Vegas in the late 70s and early 80s and depicts the mafia-run world of some of Vegas’ best casino at the time. Starring Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone and Joe Pesci, the movie was a great success.
Conclusion
Star Wars, even after over 50 years of their first movie, still ranking very high in popularity of their movies, series, merchandise and themed game production. The casino industry has also been using the popular theme and we can find Star Wars-themed slots all over the world online and in land-based casinos.
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